If she wants attention, the 3-year-old bulldog will gently paw at owner Amanda Howard's leg. If she's scared, she hunkers down behind Howard's leg.

Sometimes it takes just one look at the bulldog's face to know if she wants to play, eat or if she's done something she shouldn't, said Howard, 31, of Erie.

"The pouting is if she knows she's done something wrong, and (it's) like (she's) begging for forgiveness," said Howard, who works at Glenwood Pet Hospital. "She'll put her head down and kind of look up at you."

Most pets have those quirky cute expressions or mannerisms that inspire popular memes, such as Grumpy Cat (aka Tardar Sauce), YouTube videos and online comics, including Pusheen the Cat, Simon Tofield's Simon's Cat and Matthew Inman's TheOatmeal.com.

But every look or pose can also have a specific meaning that pets are trying to communicate to their owners.

And you don't have to be Dr. Dolittle to figure out what your pets are trying to say. With a little time and patience, observant pet owners could easily decode their pets' secret language, said Dr. Dan Pierce, a veterinarian at Glenwood Pet Hospital.

"Most of the communication from dogs and cats is going to be nonverbal," he said. "It really can be amazing how much they say that the owners don't pick up on."

For example, a slight crook of a cat's tail would likely indicate friendliness and contentment. A dog with a wagging tail and alert expression might be ready to play.

And any pet that bares its teeth and growls is likely feeling threatened or angry.

But methods do vary from pet to pet. Like people, pets develop their own personalities and ways of doing things, Pierce said. One dog or cat might wait to make eye contact before approaching someone, while another trots right up to people.

"Some of them are pretty vocal and get your attention that way," Pierce said. "Other ones just kind of come up to you and rub up against you with their head and kind of paw at you a bit. It is interesting to see the difference from individual to individual."

Every animal has a way of communicating -- not just dogs and cats.

The Erie Zoo's animal care supervisor Richelle Swen has noticed most species -- from reptiles to primates -- have their own special language they use to communicate with one another. Sometimes it's done in a way humans can understand, such as sounds or visual cues, but other species might communicate through scent or other subtle ways.

Some behaviors -- such as hunting or caring for young -- might be instinctual, but pets and other animals can make up new ways of expressing themselves, depending on their environment, Swen said.

"That's one thing about being a keeper: You learn your animals, and you learn their natural behavior, and you see how they've adapted to being in a controlled environment," she said. "They add their own personality, too."

Many animals at the zoo have learned new ways of communicating with employees and visitors. For example, the female orangutan, Dasa, has developed her own way of letting keepers know when she's hungry or upset.

"Our female a lot of times will roll up a piece of newspaper or whatever she has and poke and knock at the door," Swen said. "When she shows that she's not real happy, both she and our adult male will fill their mouths up with water and squirt at you."

It can take years to figure out how to train and understand a family pet, but it's worth the effort in the long run.

"It can definitely be frustrating, and I'm sure it's frustrating for the animals too, if they're trying to tell you something and you're not picking up on it and not doing a good job of communicating," Pierce said. But once that connection is established, it's easier to read a pet's mood and know when they're not feeling well.

And quite honestly, Amanda Howard prefers the unusual dialogue she has with Blanca and her pit bull, Bell.

"I think it would wreck it if dogs could talk," she said. When it comes to a cat purring in your lap or a dog gently pawing your leg for attention, a pet's way of communicating is "cute and gets the point across."